


The Fradgility Of Serendipity

by Itsmyfridge



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mutants, Character Death, Gen, M/M, Mutant Powers, Violence, super powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-03
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-07-29 02:42:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7667167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Itsmyfridge/pseuds/Itsmyfridge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sawamura Daichi wasn't quite sure what he'd managed to get himself into this time, of course living as an ability user was bound to be eventful, but this? This took the cake, the past 24 hours had been hectic to say the least. </p><p>Apparently breaking into cars can bring people together in the strangest of ways, and now Daichi finds himself teaming up with a group of ability users to rescue a certain hostage who may, or may not, be alive. </p><p>Meanwhile a dangerous organisation with deadly intentions are closing in, time is running out.</p><p>[on a major hiatus, I plan to rewrite this in the future but at the moment I'm unmotivated to do so but can't bring myself to take it down]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Yamaguchi

Uncomfortable, Tadashi's breathing had grown erratic, sweat beading along his forehead, his heart thumping heavily in his chest. He gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the searing pain in his legs, cramped from remaining in the same position for a little too long.

He had hidden himself behind a large dustbin, his body tightly curled up into a tense, agonising crouch.

"Come out, come out, Tadashi-chan," a teasing voice drawled slowly, "come out so we can play~" 

Shivers ran down his spine and it took every ounce of his will power to stay as still as possible. One move, and they'd find him. One move, and it would all be over - everything. His dreams would all be for nothing. Everything that he and Kei and had ever worked for would be for nothing.

Shit, Tadashi thought. Kei, he needed to warn Kei.

Taking a shaky breath in, he closed his eyes and began a countdown from ten. He'd been doing this since he was a child - inspired by a speech his mother had given him on finding ways to conquer his anxiousness in desperate times, and counting down from ten had always been the most successful. 

Right now, Tadashi was incredibly thankful for it.

Ten.

Glancing around him, Tadashi tried to weigh his options, attempting to take in his surroundings: closely packed walls, darkness, bags of rubbish... 

What would Kei do? Tadashi wracked his brain for answers, thinking and thinking and thinking, only to find his mind blank. Amidst the fog of fear, his mind was bare - blind, he could see no way out.

Nine.

Tadashi squeezed his eyes shuts. He could stay where he was and hope his pursuers moved on, risking being found...

Eight.

...Or he could make a break for it, risking everything, but nevertheless, having a chance of escape if the devastating pair were to continue their search.

Seven.

With an unconscious squeeze of his fists, his nails indenting the skin of his palms, Tadashi's reached his decision. Staying put would only lead to his capture.

Slowly, Tadashi opened his eyes, staring straight into the dimming light before him.

Six.

"Tadashi-chan~" the voice called again, drawing out each vowel in a patronising manner, making Tadashi feel a little nauseous. Normally being looked down upon would fire him up and make him strive to prove whoever doubted him wrong, but the way the tall, dark outline of his main pursuer loomed, suffocating him with his endless ream of taunts and bittersweet words put an unsettling, sickening feeling in his stomach.

If Tadashi was going to escape, he was going to need to overcome this.

Five.

No matter his mental state, having decided that he was going to run, Tadashi was now going to have to decide exactly how he was going to do so.

He put his head in his hands, kneading his tense forehead with his knuckles. He had to think. Yes, he had to think \- think like Tsukishima. What would Kei do in a situation like this? What approach would he make? What would he be thinking? 

Four.

Tadashi knew that his precious time was running out.

All he'd wanted to do was watch the fireworks with Kei - watch the colour explode across the night sky, hearing the cheers and the laughter of the around him as he rested his head upon the blonde's shoulder as they spent their evening calmly watching...

Three.

Fireworks...

Two.

Now too late for a change of plan, Tadashi shifted his position, slowly and quietly - his silence was essential - repositioning his legs beneath his body, enabling him to form a better position for a far better push off. 

One.

Fireworks exploded overhead, filling the night sky with colour and light - at least, that's what Tadashi hoped it would look like. In any other situation Tadashi would've of smiled contently, resting his head on Kei's shoulder just like he had imagined. It would've been perfect.

But for Tadashi, life had never been perfect. He had only been able to make do with the best he had - and even if his holiday with Kei had been cut short, he had enjoyed himself immensely, because quite frankly, Tadashi wanted to go home right there and then. Yes - that's what he wanted. Home.

With a trembling exhale of breath, Tadashi slowly stood up, albeit shakily and not at all confidence filled, but he stood nevertheless.

Defend your mind, he advised himself.  
You win if you don't let them in.

He repeated the words over and over in his mind like a panicked mantra as he stepped out from where he'd been hiding. 

Thanks to his hesitant, careful footsteps, Tadashi had not gained their attention yet, but that didn't matter. He still felt his pursuers presence whether they saw him or not. Even if they were turned away from him, he was not safe - not yet.

As if having heard Tadashi's own thoughts, the tall figure whirled around in the darkness - a flash within seconds - and if Tadashi squinted he was so, so sure a sadistic grin was stretching across their features. Blocking the already lacking sunlight, more shadow curled in behind this figure, residing behind him. It had to be his other pursuer. 

Swallowing, Tadashi decided to try and think realistically: if he managed to outrun the first man, he'd have to outrun his partner too.

In front of these men, Tadashi felt naked - they saw right through his false courage, pinpointing his fears with their sharp eyes. 

Running his tongue across his dry lips, Tadashi glanced behind him. If he squinted he could just make out a lamppost at the other end of the alley. Kei would surely be worrying about him by now - perhaps even on his way to him now... But then again, what if Kei wasn't looking for him?

Tadashi wanted to cry.

He'd been so convinced when the others back home had ensured him they'd be safe - that their trip would be safe. He'd been so happy to get away from it all, to stop hiding for once. Constantly concealing himself, even from his own family, had made him almost claustrophobic - just the idea of going back into hiding again gave him that all too familiar ache at the pit of his stomach.

Despite wanting to go home, there was some part of him which was honestly devastated that his friends had been wrong. 

Faced with a reality harsher than he had even anticipated himself, Tadashi felt crushed: the authorities weren't to be stopped, even outside their own country. There was no where in this earth where he could find his escape.

The image of Kei, smiling down with soft, genuine features appeared in his mind, his glasses steaming up a little in the cold of winter after stepping outside onto their small balcony back at home.

They would have no escape - unless they fought.

Shaking his head, Tadashi decided that the only way he could even start fighting would be by concentrating. Focus, Tadashi, focus, he reprimanded himself, clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides. Distraction would get him nowhere - only concentration could aid him in his escape.

Stepping forwards, the tall figure gained closer proximity to Tadashi, looking as if he were menacingly rising above him in the shadow of the evening.

Swallowing heavily, he stepped wide from his original shaking position, attempting the defensive stance that Kei had taught him, bringing his hands out in front of him. Tadashi had never thought he would use it in a genuine situation - he had never imagined that this would happen - and now he was wishing that he had practiced more often.

"Now, now, Tadashi-chan, no need to be difficult~" the man crooned, and Tadashi felt as if just by those few words, he knew everything. 

Trying desperately not to cringe away from his pursuer, he gathered energy at his fingertips.

"Stay back!" He ordered, slowly stepping away. He felt that odd, addictive electrical buzzing at his fingers, soft pinpricks against his skin. 

The man chuckled darkly, as if knowing of Tadashi's plan, yet uncaring. He simply did not care - and why would he? Even Tadashi knew that this man was stronger than him. 

"Little tricks like that don't scare me Tadashi-chan," his pursuer taunted, cocking his head to the side as if were observing his trembling victim. "For instance, if I were to do this-" 

Tadashi gasped as he felt a sharp pain shoot through his skull, his hands rushing to feel the centre of the pain only to find himself scrambling for nothing - everywhere, the agony sent him stumbling forwards heavily onto his knees.

"-You'd submit to us in an instance," the man finished, his voice mockingly bittersweet as he stepped forward out of the shadows. Tadashi could barely restrain his shock when he recognised who he was - but his pursuer only seemed to ignore this. "Face it, you're a lot weaker than us. We're on a different level entirely."

Tadashi could hear the smugness seeping through the words, sinking through his skin and penetrating his very bones - consuming him.

With a step back, Tadashi held his hands up, palms facing the figure. "I'm not giving in to you!" 

And following his verbal outburst, Tadashi finally released all of his energy at the man. 

Exploding near his pursuer's feet, sparks closely resembling the fireworks overhead ignited from Tadashi's fingertips and palms, shards of energy bouncing off the floor and directly onto his enemy.

Taking the slight hesitation of the men, Tadashi spun on his heel, sprinting out of the alleyway as fast as he could manage - and judging by the adrenaline pounding within his veins, this was fast.

"Kei!" he shouted, his voice cracking in desperation. "Kei, where are you?" 

The blonde had seemingly left his original position near the bench. Where had he gone?

Tadashi's head snapped from left to right, looking everywhere around him. Kei should be easy to find, considering his outrageous height - but he was nowhere in sight. 

Alone, Tadashi had to find his own way out - or so he thought. 

"Tadashi!"

Tadashi whirled around, almost breaking down when he saw a familiar figure a few metres away from him, waving him over hurriedly.

"Kei!" He called, so relieved he'd found him. Quickly he scurried over, engulfing Kei in a tight hug.  

"Thank goodness you're alright," he heard Kei murmur, and Tadashi was suddenly aware of the situation again - because he certainly didn't feel alright.

Pulling back from the embrace, Tadashi placed his hands on Kei's shoulders, looking him in the eye. 

Kei was smart. He would find their way out of this mess safely because that's the type of person Kei was - Kei planned and Kei got things right.

Suddenly, Tadashi felt the disturbing urge to cry. If he remained silent, overwhelmed by the safety he felt just by being in Kei's presence, both of them would surely be caught.

"Kei," Tadashi grabbed his hand, ignoring any protests from the blonde as he pulled him along. "We have to get out of here."

Kei was quite obviously confused. "What-"

"We've got to get off of the streets," Tadashi said, ploughing ahead. They'd now fallen into a slow run, dragged down by the tall blonde digging his heels in behind. "Before they find us."

"And who are they?!"

"No time to explain," Tadashi answered, before breaking into a sprint, hurrying desperately across the street with Kei stumbling after him.

Time was running out, and they needed an escape plan - fast.

Tadashi had no idea whether they were still being pursued, but he couldn't accept the idea that his followers had simply given up. No, they had not seemed to give up before - what would be stopping them now?

"Hurry," Tadashi urged, dragging Kei towards a set of concrete stairs. Taking two steps at a time, Tadashi turned his head to the side as they climbed the stairs, trying not to be too affected by Kei's startled face. "I need you to activate your shield - protect us both-" 

And that's when it hit him, an excruciating pain, slicing through his skull, piercing the centre of his brain. 

Time seemed to move in slow motion as Tadashi's hands moved to hold his head. The stairs beneath no longer seemed to be there - he was floating as he simply lost his footing, tipping backwards into empty air.

It was like he was dreaming. He no longer needed oxygen. He no longer needed anything. Tadashi was flying.

With a sickening crack, Tadashi's back smashed against the cold, hard stairs - thrown back into reality.

Reality, however, was spinning - each and every cycle he made only introduced new pain to his body until he felt numb. His world was a blur of colour. Distorted, he might as well be blind.

Very suddenly, everything came to a grinding halt. 

Unsure of where he was, Tadashi tried to focus his vision, his breath coming in short pants. His ears were ringing. He couldn't breathe. He could barely see. What was happening? Where was Kei?

In the far distance, he could hear someone calling his name desperately, "Tadashi, Tadashi, Tadashi!"

But Tadashi couldn't find the energy to answer. Nothing in his body was working anymore. His mind was simply not obeying him.

Paralysed, all Tadashi could do was watch as the blurred light of the evening faded around him - a mess of colour and sparks in the night sky - as two daunting, looming shadows stood above him, getting closer by the second.

Very soon, all Tadashi could see was black, listening to the beats of his slowing, slowing heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins!
> 
> Yes, this fic is supposedly a daisuga-centric one, and we will get there i promise! I just needed to give a bit of background context to get things flowing smoothly. 
> 
> A side note to anyone who read this way back when i originally posted; I've decided to pick up the story again after months of procrastinating, but in the chapters to come there will be some major plot changes - mainly regarding the ages of characters, which will be covered when the time comes.   
> Also to clear up any confusion, I've altered the name of the fic since i changed my mind about its ending and i will be condensing several of the original chapters into larger and longer ones.
> 
> With all that said, thank you so much for reading and i hope you enjoy this fic!!
> 
> \- emi


	2. Daichi

If anyone asked Sawamura Daichi about himself, he would tell them;  
He's quite average and ordinary - nothing special.

Of course he'd be lying on several levels.  
For starters, he was fairly certain the average twenty-two year old hadn't been kicked out of his orphanage, resulting in him travelling randomly around the world.

Nor did the average twenty-two year old possess strange powers that enabled him to walk through walls and turn invisible, much to his dismay.

But, he supposed, the special part was correct, considering no one had actually any proof he existed, therefore he could not be thought of as special.

It didn't bother him though, after the initial shock of being literally homeless,  
he came to the realisation that the powers he detested so much, could actually be used in his favour.

He picked up a habit of just phasing through someone's car door and then remaining invisible for the entire journey, getting off at a random stop and then carrying on.

To him it was the ideal lifestyle (not that he'd known a better one), forever adventuring and finding new and intriguing places. He could have everything he ever wanted, and no one was going to ruin it for him.

He was somewhat happy.

Well, at least for the majority of the time. In the past year or so - perhaps after the passing of his twentieth birthday - he'd felt a strange longing in his chest; a strong desire for something he didn't have but couldn't find, no matter how hard he tried. He just simply couldn't quite put his finger on it.

It was especially on nights when he was sat in the backseat of someone's car, listening to the back and forth bickering and banter between friends, that he felt he was missing out on something special and unique. Something new and ... different.

He usually cleared his thoughts of such ridiculous fantasies after a few minutes.  
It's not like he needed anyone to travel with. He'd gotten this far on his own and didn't intend to stop anytime soon. Having an accomplice would only drag him down, obviously.

And that's how he'd found himself in a tiny petrol station somewhere in Los Angeles.

He'd made sure his invisibility was functioning before entering the station, closely following a woman to get through the automatic doors without needing to phase.

Inside the station, a crackly radio spewed something that sounded vaguely like music. The cashier seemed to to know the song, as he hummed along loudly, sounding ever-so-slightly off key. Thankfully, a small fan blew the humid air around the store, nearly drowning the awful voice out.

Daichi ducked around the corner, so he was out of sight of the cashier, before reappearing and opening his bag. Quickly he grabbed a ham and cheese sandwich and a bottle of water, tossing them into his backpack. He'd eat once he found a car to travel in.

Footsteps sounded at the end of the aisle, and Daichi hastily engaged invisibility just as a girl wandered around the corner, a bag of sweets clutched in her hand. He watched as she picked up a bottle of coke with a strange amount of intrigue. It must be so easy being someone like her - to actually have a fulfilling purpose in life...

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, he dodged around her, heading towards the exit, swiping a tube of toothpaste on the way out.

He phased through the door, glancing around the petrol station for an interesting car. It didn't take him that long to find something that caught his eye, his gaze settling on what looked like a shiny Mercedes.

"They must be going somewhere nice," he mused, walking over to the car.

Sure enough, a polished Mercedes Benz was parked beside the petrol pump. The owner, Daichi presumed, was inside the station as the car was empty.

Grinning to himself, Daichi phased through the car door, settling himself on the plush leather seat. It had that glorious new car smell, and Daichi couldn't resist the deep whiff of air that he took. Shaking his head, amused at his own mannerisms, Daichi tucked his bag on the floor by his feet, looking down at his body as he double checked if his invisibility was still up. Sure enough, there was no sign of his body whatsoever - just the leather interior of the Mercedes.

Time passed agonisingly slowly, sweat seemed to drip on his forehead and he winced. His stomach was beginning to hurt and it was way too hot in the car - if the owner of the car didn't open the window, he was sure he was going to end up in a puddle on the plush, leather seats.

Idly, he wondered where the driver would be heading this time - maybe they were going somewhere like San Fransisco or Las Vegas? Or perhaps they were heading home after a long day at work, to their loving family?

"Yeah, that'd be nice," Daichi said wistfully, releasing a sigh. The memories of the orphanage now seemed somewhat too good for him now - but it wasn't like they had been loving in any shape or form. Maybe he missed actually coming back to something - coming back to a home?

Suddenly the car door swung open, shaking Daichi out of his thoughts. Before he could react, a silvery haired man slid into the drivers seat - wafting the scent of coffee into the car.

Daichi wrinkled his nose. He'd never been much of a fan of coffee; the taste had always thrown him off, so instead, coincidentally, he was much more of a tea person, preferring the flavour to the overwhelming bitterness of coffee.

The man, rustled around in the drivers seat for a moment, sticking the coffee cup into a holder and, Daichi assumed, fishing his car keys out the messenger bag that lay on the passenger seat. Soon enough, there was jangle and Daichi heard the click of the keys in the ignition, the car engine purring to life.

Smoothly the car slid out of the station, cruising down the street. The man hummed quietly to himself, and Daichi could not help but listen to the gentle tune, a small smile on his lips.

Reminded of home, he closed his eyes, leaning his head against the window. It was going to be a long, long drive, and he was positively exhausted.

***

"Take your bags and scram you freak of nature!"

Cold, harsh hands grabbed Daichi's shoulders, forcing him out of the door.

The fifteen year old boy trembled.  
"I have no where to go!" He cried, desperately clinging onto the only motherly figure he'd ever known.

"Please!" He sobbed, "let me stay! It won't happen again - I promise!"

A small group of children had gathered behind the Mother, peering curiously at Daichi, some snickering at his distress.

The woman frowned deeply, a sneer plastering her face.

"Do you think for one minute I'd let such a monster stay in my establishment?!" She hissed, pushing him further out of the door.

"I'm not a monster! It was an accident I swear!"

She snorted. "Accident my ass, you fell through the bloody ceiling! I bet you're the one whose been stealing my money as well! I want you out!"

With one final shove, Daichi toppled backwards onto the doorstep, his head hitting the ground with a thud.

Wincing painfully he looked up just as his bag was tossed at him, knocking the wind out of his chest. Tears sprung into his eyes - Daichi didn't know what to do. Surely she was joking? Surely she realised it was all a misunderstanding?!

"If I see your freakish ass here again I will call the police!" The mother screeched, slamming the door on Daichi, effectively cutting him off with the orphanage.

And as Daichi stared at the closed door, he finally allowed the tears to fall-

"EEEUUUUUUUUHHHH!"

With a jolt, Daichi woke up to the sound of screaming, memories of his dream quickly leaving him.  
Even whilst feeling groggy, he was able to register that the screaming was coming from the drivers seat, just as the car screeched to a halt, throwing Daichi face first into the back of the passenger seat.

"Ow ow ow!" he whined, rubbing his nose, looking up to scowl at the driver - who was now, completely frozen, eyes wide.

"Who the fuck are you?!" he yelled, turning round to face Daichi. "And why are you in my car?!"

Before Daichi could say anything, a large coffee cup was tossed at him, hitting his forehead square on. The coffee, unfortunately, took this moment to burst open, it's hot contents spilling over Daichi's face and shoulders.

"Shit," Daichi cursed. The liquid was piping hot, burning his skin.  
"Oh shit, shit, shit..."

He pulled at his shirt, desperately trying to prevent the burning coffee from scalding his skin.

As he was doing this; two things occurred to him:

1) The guy could see him (well no shit, the guy had thrown a hot beverage at him)

2) Meaning his invisibility had slipped during his nap and now he needed to escape before the police were called or something. Goddammit.

Quickly he threw his invisibility up, closely dodging a water bottle thrown at his head.

The guy stiffened, glaring at where, he must've assumed Daichi was.

"That's not fair!" he complained, lowering the book clutched in his grasp. "You can't just use your power to escape, that's bad sportsmanship!"

Daichi choked slightly, how on earth did this guy know about abilities? Unless...

"Aha! There you are!"  
With incredible speed, the man threw the book at his midsection, catching Daichi off guard - ouch that toss had been a hard one.

"Turn back! Appear or something!" the guy shouted, "in fact, I demand you to appear again this instant!"

For some reason Daichi could not explain, he felt himself dropping his invisibility and raising his hands in defence (so he wouldn't be hit by a flying object) - which was frankly the opposite of what he intended to do. In fact, he hadn't been planning to drop his invisibility at all ... so why had he?

The man raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly. Now that Daichi could see him properly, he noticed that there was a mole under his left eye - which, like the right eye, were a light brown colour, fitting well with the pallor of his skin and silver hair.

"Done staring?" He drawled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Because I already know I have a nice face, unlike your... shirt."

He gestured to Daichi's coffee stained t-shirt, causing the twenty-two year old to look down at himself.

"Ah shit," Daichi swore, cringing at the state his white - now stained brown- shirt was in.

The man snorted, his lips twitching. "All you've said so far is shit - surely your vocabulary isn't that limited?!"

Daichi felt a smile tugging at his lips.

"I don't suppose you have a spare shirt I could borrow?" he asked in desperation, because there was no way he was wearing a gross coffee shirt.

He raised an eyebrow. "And why should I lend you a shirt, if I even have one?"

"You threw coffee at me," Daichi deadpanned, pointing at the coffee spilt over the leather upholstery.

The guy pouted. "This car is new," he mumbled gazing sadly at the stained seat. "Anyway, I only threw my perfectly good coffee because you were stowing away in my car!" he huffed, crossing his arms, the pout more prominent.

Daichi sighed, he hadn't wanted it to come to this. Pulling what little money he had out of his pocket, he held it out to the guy, who eyed it sceptically.  
"If I buy you a new coffee, will you please lend me a shirt? I don't have a spare and don't fancy wearing this..."

The guys eyes twinkled, a bright grin on his face. "It's a deal! In fact, I know the perfect place!"

He twisted the keys in the ignition, starting up the car again.

"You can come and sit in the front... Uhh...." He trailed off.

"Sawamura Daichi?" Daichi supplied, feeling a little nervous. Why was he nervous? Probably because he hadn't actually talked to someone in a long, long time, and this person wasn't exactly treating him like he was a nuisance. "But I usually go by Daichi"

Silver Hair grinned. "Okay Daichi, I'm Sugawara Koushi - but you can call me Suga."

And with that, Suga winked.

* * *

Twenty-three minutes later, Daichi and Suga, were sat at a table in the corner of a service station. Suga triumphantly sipping his incredibly bitter coffee whilst Daichi shifted uncomfortably in his new shirt.

"Are you absolutely certain this was the only shirt you had?" Daichi huffed, tugging at the hem of the hideous  
'Check meowt' cat shirt Suga had lent him. It was ever so slightly too short, any movements forcing the fabric to slide up his stomach.

Suga sniggered at him over his coffee. "Very certain," he set the cup down, looking very smug. He turned to Daichi. "Now tell me, why the hell were you in my car?!"

Daichi winced, scratching the back of his neck, "well, you see, it's kind of a long story..."

Suga raised an eyebrow. "You have two minutes before I make you tell me," he said in a sing-song voice, grinning cheerily at Daichi, who narrowed his eyes.

"And how would you make me?" he questioned, suspiciously.

Suga's grin twisted into an evil smirk. "Mind manipulation, my dear - just like how you can turn invisible and, I assume, phase - I can manipulate the will of others," he waved his hand dismissively. "Now tell me, unless of course, you want to test it out?"

"So you are an ability user" Daichi mused.

Suga tapped the table impatiently before folding his arms as if he were a child denied of chocolate. "Tell me why you were in my car!"

Daichi sighed, running a hand through his hair. He supposed there wasn't any harm in telling the guy was there?

"I've been travelling around like this since I was around ... fifteen or so and left Japan-"

Suga slammed his hand down on the table, causing Daichi to jump. His eyes shining.

"So you are Japanese!" Suga exclaimed excitedly. "You know, your English is incredibly good, I applaud you - carry on, carry on!"

"You're Japanese too then?" he asked, and Daichi couldn't hold back the smile on his face as he spoke.

Suga grinned again. "Yep! I'm from good old Sendai! But I moved to Tokyo when I was seventeen!"

Daichi nodded, absorbing the information. He glanced down at the newspaper discarded on the table in front of him.

"What about you?" Suga said, resting his head on his hands. "Where about in Japan are you from?"

Daichi tilted his head to the side, his eyebrows furrowing. "Well, I guess I'm from Tokyo - that's where the orphanage was anyway..."

"No way!" Suga exclaimed. "We could've totally walked past each other once or twice!"

Daichi chuckled at the man's excitement, "I doubt it, I mean - you moved to Tokyo when you were... Seventeen right? I'd left just before my sixteenth birthday and I daresay we are similar ages..."

Suga took a sip from his cup. "I'm just twenty-three," he thumbed the lid of his coffee cup absentmindedly. "My birthday was last week actually."

"Huh, really?" Daichi said, surprised the childish man was nearly six months older than him. "So you are older than me, I'm not twenty-three till December"

Suga suddenly stiffened, staring at something over Daichi's shoulder as his hand clenching around the coffee cup.

"Oh fuck," he whispered, as if seeing something unpleasant.

Daichi turned his head to see what had caught Suga's attention.

Stood by the automatic doors were two men - the taller of the two, slim with soft brown hair nearly swept to the side, his face screaming assertiveness, a complete opposite to his partner. Nearly half a head shorter, this muscular body looked ready to kill if Daichi was honest... Short blonde hair, with two stripes shaved into the sides, and his hands shoved in his pockets, scowling like there was no tomorrow.

Daichi shivered, these men looked like they meant business.

Suga was already on his feet, pulling Daichi up with him.

"I-I am in deep shit," he hissed in Daichi's ear. His voice had a panicked edge to it.  
What the hell was going on?

Suga brought the cup up up his lips, taking a shaky sip of the liquid. He looked as if he were hyperventilating, with wide, startled eyes and trembling lips.

"Those guys-" Suga eyed the two men by the door, who were beginning to venture into the service station - thankfully away from Suga and Daichi. They had yet to be discovered. "-Have been tailing me for a while"

"Who are they?" Daichi asked, glancing over at the duo again.

Suga bit his lip, "Some nasty guys from Japan, I'll explain in the car"

Tugging on Daichi's arm, he lead him away from the tables. "You see the couple by the toilets?" Suga muttered, nodding towards the bathrooms.

Sure enough a man and women with linked arms were stationed just outside the toilets, deeply immersed in conversation.

"They are going to act as our red herring, pretend you know them and I'll do the rest"

Suga let his mouth fall into an easy smile, altering his posture as he walked.  
Daichi cautiously followed, keeping a wary eye on the two men across the station.

"Sasha! Connie! Sorry for keeping you waiting!" Suga called out, waving at the couple.

The man blinked, his face blank "sorry... do we-"

"Sawamura! You better have bought me my doughnut!" The woman suddenly blurted, bounding over to Daichi eagerly.

"Sorry Sasha, I distracted him" Suga admitted, giving her a cheeky grin.

Sasha raised an eyebrow "typical" she muttered, pouting in annoyance.

"You two took forever, what an earth were you doing" The man, who Daichi assumed was Connie remarked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh you know, stuff" Suga alluded, bringing his keys out of his pocket "shall we move on?"

"Let's!" Connie chirped, Sasha nodded in agreement.

The four of them made their way towards the doors, Sasha cheerily retelling an earlier event involving a potato, Connie and Suga laughed along with her.

Out of the corner of his eye, Daichi could see the two men looking in their direction, he stiffened slightly, had they been found out?

An arm slipped around his shoulders and Daichi was suddenly very aware of Suga's presence.

"Connie and Sasha will walk us to the car, just play along as much as possible" he murmured in Daichi's ear "now laugh like I've said something funny"

Daichi forced a weak chuckle out of his lips, curling his arm around Suga's slim waist.

"Nicely done" Suga purred. They were almost at the door. Just a few more meters.

"I dibs the front seat!" Sasha called out loudly, swatting Connie's arm "ha! Beat you too it!"

"It's cool, I wanted to sit with Sawamura in the back anyway, close up thigh ogling you know" Connie retorted.

Daichi nearly choked on his spit at the comment. Suga sniggered into Daichi's shoulder.

Sasha was the first to step through the automatic doors, The other three following closely.

Daichi heard Suga sigh in relief, removing his arm from Daichi's shoulder "nearly there now."

Daichi risked a glance back into the station, to his dismay he couldn't see the duo anymore.

"Suga, they've disappeared-"

"I know, they've found us, we're going to have to pick up the pace" Suga muttered, "I've had another idea"

"Hey guys" he chirped "first one to the car gets the front seat~" with that Suga broke into a sprint, beelining for the car.

"Hey that's not fair!" Sasha whined, pushing Connie away and chasing after him.

A crash at the doorway alerted Daichi's attention, with horror he realised the shorter member of the duo was forcing the doors open, a livid expression on his face.

Adrenaline kicked in and Daichi launched himself into a run, haphazardly phasing through any opposing vehicles.

Suga had already made it to the car and appeared to be unlocking the doors, forcing the drivers one open and sliding in.

The engine roared to life and Suga reversed out of the parking spot, spinning the car around.

Quickly looking back, he could see the two men were gaining on them, the shorter one haphazardly sliding over the bonnets of cars.

Connie and Sasha were no-where insight, he assumed Suga had removed whatever mind manipulation he'd been using and they'd gone back inside.

Daichi panted, covering the final couple of meters between him and the car before he phased through the car door into the passenger seat.

"Go!" Daichi yelled and Suga slammed his foot into the pedal, accelerating forwards

Suga laughed gleefully, both hands lightly gripping the steering wheel. "That was close!" he grinned as he brought the car to a hairpin turn round a bend.

"Suga!" Daichi wailed as he slid out of his seat, hastily trying to regain his balance as he pulled himself back up, tugging the seatbelt forward, scowling ferociously.

"And that, dear Daichi," Suga said wryly, smirking "Is why you wear a seatbelt"

"Oh, shove off," he muttered darkly, "I could've died!"

"Ah... Well, don't get comfortable yet..." Suga said in a small voice, peering at the rear-view mirror.

Daichi turned to look out of the wing mirror, and there in the distance, but clearly catching up, was a darkly coloured, sleek and streamline car. If he squinted, Daichi could just make out the bright, blonde hair of the shorter man at the wheel - a wicked grin presumably plastered on his face.

"Suga..." He warned, eyes fixated on the other car.

Suga tutted. "I know, I know, I'm stepping on it!"

He abruptly stomped on the gas, urging the vehicle onwards.

The Mercedes was surprisingly fast, accelerating away from the service station and towards the ever-moving highway.  
"This is some James Bond level action" Suga gritted as he cut through the traffic, practically throwing the car from side-to-side, dodging the onslaught of cars, vans and lorries speeding towards their own destinations.

Daichi glanced backwards. "Suga," he warned, turning to the silver haired driver. "You might want to-"

Suga flicked his hand at Daichi, dismissing warning comment. "Yes, yes, I'm just-"

The window behind them made a ear splitting crack sound, and Daichi could swear he felt a small metallic object just graze his cheek before it smashed into the dashboard. "Suga they're shooting at us!" Daichi cried, whirling around to asses the damage.  
There, slowly slicing across the back windscreen, were a series of veiny lines - cracks in the glass, Daichi concluded.

Next to him, Suga swore under his breath "fucking bastards, shooting at my very nice car!"  
Furrowing his eyebrows slightly, Suga grabbed a hold of the gear stick, shifting its position.

"They don't give up, do they?" He mumbled, glancing at Daichi as he raised his voice a little louder. "Quick, hold onto something!"

Hastily, Daichi wrapped his hand around the armrest, noting the dangerous edge in Suga's voice. He swallowed, feeling a droplet of perspiration slide down his left temple, as it occurred to him that they may not make it out of this smoothly.

With unbelievable precision, Suga jerked the steering wheel to the left, before twisting it fully to the right.

Daichi held his breath. This was it. This was the end. They were going to crash and they were going to die. The twenty-two year old had barely even lived. And yet, he was going to die nevertheless.

The car skidded with equally unbelievable speed, the rubber of the tires screeching against the Tarmac road. Daichi could smell burning rubber, squeezing his eyes shut as the car skidded to the side with an alarming shift of direction. Daichi felt sick.

And somehow, he couldn't bear keep his eyes closed. He watched as they skidded neatly exiting the highway.

Suga glanced at the rear-view mirror, before grinning brightly. "That should give us a few minutes!"

Daichi swallowed, panting heavily as he remained in his previous position, still bracing himself for the impact. "Why the hell are you so happy?!" he demanded, his eyes wide and panicked.

Suga tilted his head to the side, as if in deep thought, giving Daichi yet another one of those curious glances. "Didn't you find that fun?"

"Fun?!" Daichi spluttered, laughing bitterly. "We almost died!"

Suga rolled his eyes. "Stop your whining, you're still alive aren't you?!"

Daichi huffed, crossing his arms, "why are you running from them anyway? Gang rivalry? Drugs?!"

Suga snickered. "Do I look like the kind of person to snort a line of cocaine daily?"

"Yes," Daichi stated. "Yes, you do."

Turning away, Suga pouted. "I don't do drugs," he whined, glancing at the wing mirror for a few moments, his expression flickering a little to worry. "Are they still following us?"

"Um," Daichi didn't bother turning to the shattered window - it was probably too cracked to see through anyway - and so instead looked at his own wing mirror. "Somehow, I think we actually managed to lose them."

"Excellent," Suga smirked, eyes knowing and smug. "There's another service station around here, lets make a stop there."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	3. Daichi

The sun was beginning to set as Suga pulled into the service station.  
A brilliant, vibrant orange streaking across the steadily darkening sky.

Daichi glanced across at the other man, noticing the way the light cast across Suga's face, softly dancing along his skin, illuminating his features.

Suga cut the ignition, pulling out the keys with flourish. "Okay! We're looking for a car that's very different from this bad boy," he patted the steering wheel fondly before opening the door and sliding out of the vehicle.

Processing his words, Daichi stumbled out of the car after Suga, "we're looking for what now?"

Suga hummed gently, lifting open the boot of the car to, supposedly, retrieve his satchel. He tossed a second bag at Daichi, whilst pulling his satchel over his shoulder. "Another car? We can't stay in this one," he stated, as if it were obvious.

"You can't just steal a car!!" Daichi exclaimed, flabbergasted.

Suga smirked. "Oh, but I can, it's very easy in fact."

The brown-haired man shook his head "But that's stealing! It's wrong! What's wrong with your car anyway?!"

Suga chuckled "You're such a hypocrite Sawamura-chan!" he spun on his heel, twirling the car keys around his finger. "Besides, did you really think that was my car?"

Daichi could feel his face heating up. "Chan?! Don't you use honorifics on me now!" he spluttered, adjusting his bag strap on his shoulder. "Stealing an expensive car is more extreme than stealing cheap food!"

"Also, why am I carrying your bag?" he enquired, holding out the lightly coloured backpack.

Suga gave him an innocent look, his lips curved into a small smile as his eyes lingered on Daichi's biceps. "Well, Daichi-san is quite a big, buff man compared to little old me..." he gestured to Daichi's arms, mock-swooning. "The strong should help the weak. I am a damsel in distress."

Daichi raised an eyebrow. "I'm literally and inch or so taller than you, what are you on about?"

Grinning cheekily, Suga slapped Daichi on the shoulder, giving it a little squeeze. "It's all in the shoulders," he stated, beaming as his hand lingered on Daichi's shoulder. "You have broad shoulders so therefore you must carry the bags."

"This is slavery," Daichi grumbled, as Suga threw his satchel into his already full arms, giggling. "How are you finding this funny?"

"Because," Suga turned, slamming the car boot shut, his shirt riding up a little, revealing a small strip of porcelain skin. Daichi held the bags a little tighter to his chest. "You're cute when you're complaining about becoming my slave."

Daichi froze, heat rushing up to his face  
"Wha-what!?" He stuttered, his eyes wide as Suga threw back his head, laughing.

"I'm kidding Daichi - jeez, don't take things so seriously!! Also, hurry up, we have a mission!"

The man walked towards the entrance of the service station, a slight spring in his step.

Daichi quickly slung the satchel over his shoulder, running to catch up with Suga.

"I don't understand you," Daichi stated quietly.

Suga slowed his pace ever-so-slightly, tilting his head a fraction to the left.  
"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, there's men after you - dangerous looking ones, aren't you the teeniest bit scared for your life?"

Suga chuckled darkly. "Of course I am, but isn't that the adventure of it?" he grinned wickedly at Daichi - sending shivers down the brown-haired males spine. "Besides, it's not like I'm helpless..."

Swallowing and looking downwards - anywhere but the man beside him - Daichi came to the conclusion that Suga was positively scary.

The pair stepped through the automatic doors, Daichi was immediately hit by the cool air conditioning, reminding him of how hot Los Angeles actually was.

Suga, on the other hand, took a deep breath and glanced around the service station. His gaze fixated on something in the tabled area, his lips somehow managing to form half a pout and half a knowing smirk.

Amused, Suga made a soft clicking sound with his tongue. "Perfect," he mumbled.

"Right Daichi! Give me my satchel back a second" Daichi willingly handed over the satchel, re-adjusting his grip in the other two backpacks.

As soon as he had the satchel, Suga delved his hand into the front pocket, drawing out a twenty dollar bill and handing it to Daichi.  
"Use this and buy a black coffee, strawberry milkshake and any drink of your choice"

Daichi pocketed the money "may I ask who the extra drink is for?"

Suga tapped the side of his nose, smiling sweetly "that's for me to know and you to find out... Now go, go!"  
He spun on his heel, heading in the opposite direction of the coffee stand.

"Wait, Suga!" Daichi called, but Suga had disappeared. He sighed softly.  
The queue for the coffee stand was huge.

***

Ten minutes later, after standing behind a disgruntled middle-aged man who reeked of sweat, Daichi finally made the front of the queue.

"Can I take your order?" A girl with brown hair swept into a ponytail said politely.

"Ah- yeah, can I have a black coffee, strawberry milkshake and tea please?" Daichi asked handing over the dollar bill.

The girl smiled sweetly "coming right up!" She chimed, winking at Daichi.  
With quick, deft movements she made up the drinks, carefully placing them all into a cardboard take-away tray.  
"I thought you might appreciate an easier way to carry them..." She added when Daichi picked up the drinks.

"Ah thank you" he said gratefully, smiling at the girl.

"Well, have a nice evening sir!" She cheerily waved as he turned to walk away.

Daichi headed back to the tabled area, awkwardly glancing around for any sign of Suga, what if the man had taken this chance to ditch him? It's not like he had to bring Daichi along with him.  
It was the perfect ruse, Suga could've easily slipped out of the doors when Daichi was caught up in the queue - he'd taken back his satchel after all...

"Looking for me?" A voice sounded behind him. Daichi felt a smile of relief creep onto his face. Sure enough, Suga was leaning against a table, spinning a new set of keys around his fingers.  
"I've secured us a car! It's one of those convertible Mini Cooper things - with air conditioning!!"

Daichi shook his head bemusedly "how exactly did you get another car?" He somehow couldn't quite picture Suga wrestling someone for the keys.

Suga opened his mouth before scratching his chin "I will admit I had to use a bit of mental manipulation... Apparently the guy didn't want to swap a Mini Cooper for a Mercedes Benz, it's not like the car was in bad  
condition...!"

"The back window was smashed Suga" Daichi pointed out, the seats probably had the shattered glass embedded in them as well.

Suga looked away for a second before grabbing the coffee and milkshake.

"Anyhow! Time to move onto phase two! Follow me!"  
Daichi lifted his tea to his mouth, sipping it and trailing after Suga.  
"May I ask what phase two is?" He enquired, but Suga shook his head - yet again.  
"Only time will tell my dear"

Suga literally skipped forward, leading Daichi over to a secluded corner of the station.

There sat a tall, bespectacled boy with white headphones placed over his ears and straw-blonde hair.  
He has a slight scowl on his face as he aggressively tapped the keyboard of the laptop in front of him.

Suga put a finger to his lips, motioning for Daichi to stay silent.  
The silver-haired man then casually walked over to the table and oh-so-innocently placed the strawberry milkshake onto the keyboard, startling the blonde boy.

"Fancy seeing you here, Tsukishima."

The blonde boy, whom Daichi realised was Tsukishima and most likely phase two of Suga's plan, tilted his head towards the silver-head before him, a bored expression on his face.

"Hello Suga-san," he said in impassive Japanese, removing the chunky white headphones from his ears and placing them around his neck.

"Hacking the government again?" Suga asked, switching flawlessly to the Asian language as if he had been speaking it the entire time, a glint in his eyes. He sat down at a lonely chair in front of the blonde, gesturing for Daichi to be seated at a deserted chair beside him.

Rather reluctantly, Daichi slid into the third seat, carefully placing his tea onto the wooden table and tucking Suga's bag under the chair - he tried to ignore the strong itch of intrusion he felt, glancing to Suga in search of reassurance.  
Instead, finding so much confidence in Suga's beaming face he felt unbeliably uneasy.  
What was he planning?

Daichi felt so unsure of what to do with himself that he had to look away.

The stony-faced boy let a small smile creep into his face and he closed the laptop lid. "I have my reasons, I assure you."

His gaze swept across to Daichi. "Is the guy in the ridiculous cat shirt an acquaintance of yours?" 

Daichi winced, remembering he was still wearing the god-awful 'Check Meowt!' shirt of Suga's.  
"Uh... I'm Sawamura Daichi," he introduced, holding out his hand across the table. Speaking in Japanese again gave him a weird feeling, but he didn't think it was necessarily a bad one.

Tsukishima looked at the hand disdainfully, wrinkling his nose ever-so slightly. "Tsukishima... Kei."

"Come on now Tsukki, Daichi won't bite!" Suga teased, "although he can turn invisible and walk through walls, so don't piss him off if you value your privacy! I mean he was stowing away in my car, the pervert-"

Daichi gaped, "Suga-" he cried but was quickly cut off with a wicked grin.

Tsukishima huffed and quickly shook hands with Daichi, pulling his hand away as quickly as possible.

Suga clapped his hands together, smiling brightly as if he hasn't just witnessed Tsukishima's hostile interaction. "Now we're all best of friends-" Tsukishima visibly rolled his eyes "- Tsukki-dear, I thought I'd enlighten you with the fact that there's a certain mad-dog and his arrow on our trail."

Tsukishima's eyes widened by such a small fraction that if you weren't concentrating on his face, you would've missed it - his demeanour was still as stoic and impassive as before. "You mean Kyoutani and Yahaba of Seijou, I presume?"

Suga nodded grimly.

"I am afraid so, they started tailing me and Daichi here - you know what the Mad-dog is like, his enhanced senses will enable him to literally hunt us down," he paused, giving Tsukishima a sly grin, one that rather unsettled Daichi.

"Which is why we require your assistance Tsukishima, please shield us!" Suga elbowed Daichi in the ribs, eyes widening through his sweet smile, urging him to speak.

"Uh, please help us, Tsukishima-san," Daichi stuttered, desperately trying to save the situation by offering a smile awkwardly at the sullen boy.

"Do you even know what I can contribute Sawamura-san?" he deadpanned, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Considering you just asked me to help you."

Daichi hesitated, swallowing. There was no point in lying if the blonde was probably going to find out his inadequate knowledge anyway. "No..."

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Suga cringing, slowly burying his face into his palm. Apparently, that had been the wrong thing to say.

Tsukishima smirked, evidently proving to Daichi that his lack of intelligence made the blonde actually portray emotion. "My ability is what they call a shield, both mental and physical. It may not be flashy and impressive; certaintly not the kind of overrated physical powers that most boast about these days, but when you're being hunted down or mentally attacked, the ability to simply shield your mind, body and others, is really quite useful."

Tsukishima followed this with a sip from the strawberry milkshake laid out in front of him, raising his eyebrows as the pale pink liquid shot up through the clear straw, and into the blond's mouth - who looked quite pleased as a result. "Thanks for the milkshake by the way Suga-san."

Daichi and Suga shared a look. What do we do?, it implied, but neither of them seemed to have any answers.

Glancing at the pair, Tsukishima sighed heavily, adjusting his glasses once again. "Okay, I suppose I could lend my assistance-"

Suga sent Daichi a grin, his pearly white teeth appearing to shine more than normal - which was what Daichi later found out to be what they always did when the silver-head got his way.

"-if you, in return, help me with something."

Suga's grin faltered slightly.

Daichi wanted to shake his head at this and maybe cry. Of course there was going to be a catch.

"What do you need help with exactly?" he asked tentatively, running possible requests through his head: money, a house, free concert tickets, a massage, maybe even emotions...

Tsukishima lowered his milkshake, peering at Daichi over the frame of his glasses. "Say, Sawamura-san... How good are you at breaking and entering?"

Daichi heard Suga's sharp intake of breath before answering.

"Okay," he spluttered, slamming his tea onto the coffee table in front of him. "What exactly is it with you people and breaking the law? I don't understand why-"

Suga shot him a cold look, shaking his head.

Daichi swallowed, coughing. "I-I mean, what exactly would I be accomplishing?" he questioned, eyeing the boy with curiosity - or rather, trying not to look in the direction of Suga.

"One of three things: you'd be taking on part one, infiltrating a heavily guarded place whilst I, however, would be taking back something, well someone special and pissing off some assholes" Tsukishima took another sip from his milkshake.

"Tsukki..." Suga's voice was wavering, a fearful edge to his tone. "You don't mean...?"

"Yamaguchi-" Tsukishima stated, pulling his glasses off of his nose and rubbing his eyes. It was then that Daichi noticed the purplish shadows circling them, so dark and bruising that they made Daichi feel exhausted just looking at them.

"-he's been gone for a week," his normal emotionless voice sounded strained, like he was still processing the information himself - as if the words were physically strenuous to form on his tongue.

"Gone?" Suga whispered. "Kei, he's not... He's not dead is he?"

Tsukishima shook his head, a defeated expression crossing his features. "Not yet... I don't think, we were being chased and he fell down some stairs a-and Seijou took him into custody... He told me to run and I tried-" he broke off, snapping his head to the side as if he were completely ashamed. "I- I couldn't do anything to stop them!"

Idly, Daichi wondered who this person was; what he meant to Tsukishima. He must've been of great importance.

"If-if only I was stronger, I could've saved him or maybe-" Tsukishima was quickly cut off by Suga pulling him into a tight embrace.

"It's okay," Suga consoled soothingly, running his fingers through Tsukishima's hair. "It'll be alright... He'll be alright..."

Tsukishima looked down at the milkshake before him, his eyes vaguely glazed over. "He was bleeding, there was so much blood..."

"Suga..." Daichi murmured, "if this is the same  
Seijou that are chasing us... I don't think there's a way we can get this 'Yamaguchi' back safely."

Suddenly two piercing pairs of eyes were on him. Daichi cringed back.

"What do you mean?" Tsukishima demanded icily.

Daichi hesitantly fiddled with his cup, unsure of how to word his explanation. "Well, these guys, they seemed dangerous, and I don't want to risk anyone's lives here... But wouldn't the rational thing to do be to leave this to the police? I mean, this kids been kidnapped!"

Before Daichi could react, Tsukishima had stood up above him, roughly grabbing him by the shirt collar, forcing him out of his chair and onto his feet.

"Tsukishima!" Suga cried but the blonde ignored him.

"Now you listen here, Sawamura-san," he hissed through gritted teeth. "Seijou are the police - an elite branch. Do you really think asking for help, from the kidnappers, will get us anywhere?"

He paused for a second glowering at Daichi, his expression positively murderous. "Because it won't. In fact, it could, like you fear, risk someones life-"

"Tsukishima!" Suga cried, his voice louder this time, but again he was ignored.

"-And you wouldn't want that, would you?!" he seethed, his grip on Daichi tightening as he pulled him up onto his tiptoes, making him feel very suddenly aware of just how tall Tsukishima was: towering intimidatingly over his supposedly average height of 176cm was way enough to make him feel incredibly small.

"Fucking pathetic," the blonde spat, his eyes blazing with fury.

With a violent push, Tsukishima released his grasp on Daichi's collar, sending him tumbling back onto his chair, the legs scraping against the floor with an alarming screech.

Out of the corner of his eye, Daichi could see Suga clenching his fists.

Returning his eyes to the enraged blonde, Daichi could feel the unreasonable anger emanating from the boy.

All he had done was speak. It had only been a simple suggestion. And he'd had the audacity to react like that!

Tsukishima, Daichi concluded, was an absolute dick.

Taking a deep breath, Daichi stood up, squaring his shoulders slightly. "Look, Tsukishima-san, I didn't mean to offend you, okay? It was just a suggest-"

"Bullshit!" The blonde snapped coldly. "What do you know?!"

Daichi was taken aback. This guy didn't want to give up.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he took a breath in and counted to ten in his head.

"Right," Daichi's irritation was starting to bubble under his skin, "can you stop being a cynical dick for one second and listen to my opinion?"

Tsukishima's bored expression crossed his face again and Daichi took this as a silent acceptance of his request. "If I'm honest, I have no clue what's going on at present - but there are some guys on our trail and they do not look friendly."

So much had happened in the past twelve hours and Daichi was still having problems piecing it all together. Who were their pursuers? Why were they following them? Why were they shooting? Who exactly was this Tsukishima? And why were this Seijou branch kidnapping - seemingly - innocent people?

It didn't make sense. But then again, nothing has made sense anymore.  
And it was all because he'd met Suga.

Although, now that he thought about it, perhaps he was bound to have run into another ability user sooner or later - he was just lucky it wasn't someone from Seijou.

He pictured the two men from earlier and shuddered slightly. Yeah. Incredibly lucky.

"So if we want to be rational about this," Daichi suggested, "why don't we strategise a plan that utilises all of our powers, giving us a chance at this rescue mission and actually managing to survive it? Seeing as the other alternative is rushing in head first. We could do that. But do we really want to throw our lives around that drastically? I think not."

Daichi finished his speech with a self-satisfied feeling, relishing in the convinced silence he'd left behind - finally, he'd managed to shut Tsukishima up.

...Or so he'd thought, because not even ten seconds later the blonde was adjusting his glasses, a half smirk, half sneer sliding across his features.

"You hear that Suga-san? Your new friend thinks I'm some hot-blooded idiot who doesn't 'strategise'. How disappointing."

What made Daichi snap in that moment, he wasn't sure. He wasn't sure if it was the smug expression or the self-righteous tone or if it was simply just Tsukishima, but either way, he could not deny the hot blood stinging his veins, permeating right through his skin - begging to be released.

He was going to wipe that look off the blondes face. Knock the self righteous boy down a peg or two. He was going to-

Before he knew it, Daichi had reached for the milkshake. It hadn't even occured to him that he was even holding anything until his hand felt empty and the plastic cup was flying in an arc towards Tsukishima's smug face.

Pictures were already forming in his mind of the horrified expression the blonde may pull.

Just before the cup was supposed to hit its target, it stopped, pink liquid frozen mid-spill. Confused, Daichi went to reach out for it, to check he wasn't hallucinating because what the fuck, cups didn't just stop mid air.

But his arm wouldn't move.

A cool, compressing sensation had settled over his body, forcing him to stay still, restricting any movement. It felt like shackles over every inch of his skin.

Daichi couldn't blink; he could barely breathe.

Panic set in, replacing his sudden anger - had Seijou found them? Had they been too late?  
What if this time they couldn't get away? Daichi had never had the best luck, he had a knack for being in the wrong place, wrong time - he certainly didn't want to test the limits.

Tsukishima appeared to be in the same state, his expression was a mixture of gleeful and pissed off, but his eyes were calm, almost bored.  
His stance was defensive, an arm halfway up to most likely deflect the incoming milkshake.

It appeared the blonde had good reflexes. He'd easily worked out what Daichi was doing before he himself had realised.

"Will you two quit acting like five year olds?" Suga stated cooly, breaking Daichi out of his thoughts and walking in between him and Tsukishima.  
He plucked the milkshake from mid-air and took a long sip, downing most of the drink. "Tsukishima, I hate to break it to you, but your methods of socialisation suck. Please refrain from winding people up, it's forever causing tricky predicaments."

He paused, turning to Daichi and taking another sip from the milkshake. "You surprised me, Daichi. I didn't think you'd have a bad temper on you. Hmmm..." 

To say Daichi had never felt so confused and relieved at the same time would be an understatement.

So Suga had caused this.

But how could Suga suddenly stop moving objects? Wasn't his ability mental manipulation?

Apparently there was more to the man than met the eye.

Suga took a final sip from the milkshake, swirling round the froth in the bottom of the cup.

In that moment, he looked unrecognisable to Daichi: the cheerful, unpredictable man from earlier had disappeared, instead taking on a persona of someone with a much more calm and collected aura.

A small voice in the back of his head whispered how he'd only known Suga for a day, so he shouldn't be judging. He didn't have the right.

Suga snapped his fingers, Daichi stumbled forward, grabbing the chair back to catch his balance.  
His body felt light and disoriented, detached almost.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," Tsukishima muttered, wobbling slightly. He rubbed his knuckles against his temples, as of warding off a nasty headache.

Suga scoffed, placing the now-empty milkshake back on the table. "It's not like I had much of a choice, you guys looked ready to throttle each other! I was not emotionally ready to witness the fight between Bicep-chan and Bean-boy" he pouted, crossing his arms.

Daichi almost choked on his spit, horrified. "Bicep-chan?"

"Bean-boy?" Tsukishima spluttered at the same time, "why am I bean-boy?!"

Suga smirked, a thing, Daichi realised, he did a lot. "Because Tsukki-dear, you are a tall bean-pole of a boy. But I can call you something else if you want!... Would you rather Noodle-kun, perhaps?"

Tsukishima frowned. "No, I don't want to be called noodl- this is pointless!" He exclaimed. He suddenly raised an eyebrow at the silver-head. "I thought we were in a hurry or something?"

"Oh, but we are?" Suga stated like it was obvious. "Which is why I've packed your laptop away."

The silver-head lifted up a small black satchel, presenting the several brightly coloured badges pinned to it to the plain fabric as he waved it around far too carelessly, in Daichi's opinion.

However, before Daichi could tell him so, Suga was already on the move. Tapping his fingers against his temple in a mock salute, Sugawara skipped off towards the doors, slinging the satchel over his shoulder as he made his exit.

"He drank my milkshake," Tsukishima grumbled, before grabbing a green backpack from under the table and gloomily stalking off after the twenty three year old as Daichi stumbled to catch up.

They were in for a long ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wild Tsukishima appears!
> 
> once again thank you for taking time to read, it means a lot!


	4. Tsukishima

Kei was pissed. 

Alright, maybe 'pissed' was the wrong terminology for his current state of mind.  
It was much more of a mild irritation, a consistent nagging in the back of his skull. His eyebrows had found themselves tightly drawn and a grimace was deep set into the line of his mouth. 

And it was all because of Sawamura. 

Who was this guy anyway? Suga certainly thought he was something special and unique. Kei, however, disagreed. The silver-head could do so much better. 

So far any talent this Sawamura had shown was a knack for throwing milkshakes and pointing out flaws in his plan. 

He must have had some form of ulterior motive - nobody just 'coincidentally' gets pulled into such a chain of events, especially a person of the likes of Sawamura. The man exuded honesty and reliability; there was no way such a reliable person would let himself fall down such a slippery slope.

Although, Kei had to admit - even though it slightly contradicted his previous statement - Sawamura's ability was incredibly useful (he'd never say it aloud though, Suga would never let him live it down).

Before Suga and Sawamura had burst into the station, he'd been hacking Seijou's security system with little success. He desperately needed information on Tadashi - his condition, whereabouts, anything to signify that he was okay.

Because it was Kei's fault. 

Tadashi had been taken because of Kei's incompetence, his failure to pull up a mental shield in time. And because of that, Seijou had snatched up the one person that was precious to him.

He'd known from the start that they shouldn't have gone on this trip. He'd even said that it was a bad idea. But the look of excitement on Tadashi's face had swayed him; cleared away any negativity. 

He'd even forgotten Kageyama's words of caution until it was too late. With hindsight he would've listened to the stupid King's advice - Kageyama could see into the future after all.

However, consumed by his own selfish desire to actually live like a ... normal person, Kei only focused on the present - only on the actions, not the consequences.

And now, it seemed he was paying for his lack of care.

It had all been flowing so smoothly, their week long holiday, ending with the fireworks display - it was perfect.  

Until that dreadful night.

_________________________________

 

"Tsukki! I'm going to go to the bathroom!" Tadashi declared, jumping up from the bench. 

Kei started to get to his feet, sliding his phone into his pocket - but Tadashi gently pushed him back. "No, no Kei! You've got to guard our space! Can't have some late-comers stealing our spot!" 

Kei hesitated - he wasn't sure why, but it felt incredibly wrong to let Yamaguchi go all by himself. What if something were to happen? 

"Are you sure you don't want me to accompany you?" the blonde asked. He had to make sure. 

Tadashi stuck his tongue out. "I'm not a child," he said sniffily, crossing his arms. "Please?"

Kei felt a smile creep into his face. There was just something about that silly expression which always weakened his stubborn will.  
"Go on then, be quick or you'll miss the fireworks!" 

Quickly leaning up to wrap his arms around Kei, Tadashi hurried off in the direction of the toilets, sparing a smiling glance back before he disappeared from view.

Kei didn't know why he was worrying so much - there hadn't been any incidents for years, not since Oikawa was around. Besides, all that had happened back when they were young, untrained and inexperienced. It was different now.

More or less at ease, Kei pulled out his phone once again, taking a moment to look at the photo on his lockscreen - it was, predictably, of him and Tadashi back in January, at the New Years celebration: they had been curled up in one of Suga's many armchairs, Tadashi talking animatedly about something Kei couldn't quite recall. 

It was strange seeing their laughter from an outsiders perspective - how a mere photo could portray the pair's happiness in one singular moment in their lives; how a photo had managed to actually capture not only Tadashi's feelings, but Kei's too.

Hinata had, surprisingly, taken the photo of them when neither were looking, claiming it to be one of his 'masterpieces' - apparently he was going to remember it for the rest of his life as the first time that Tsukishima Kei had actually portrayed emotion.

Well, the sentiment had been there. 

Kei smiled fondly. Hinata had grown on him, as had Kageyama surprisingly - he'd been horrified when he came to that realisation. 

Tadashi had just laughed and said he was happy Kei was making friends.

Kei tapped in his passcode, sliding his thumb across the screen to pull up the photos he'd taken during the day. Most of which, were Tadashi pulling numerous faces whilst managing to look incredibly (and unfairly) cute. 

He continued flicking through his photos, stopping to smile at particular ones, recalling the story behind them. 

It wasn't until he'd gone through an entire album of photos that he realised. Checking his watch, his eyes widened.

Nearly fifteen minutes has passed.

Tadashi had been gone for nearly fifteen whole minutes. Judging from the brunette's enthusiasm, he would have most certainly hurried back by now. Kei knew exactly what Tadashi was like, he didn't like to miss things - something was definitely, definitely wrong.

Bringing up his messaging app on his phone, Kei decided to send Tadashi a quick text. 

To: Tadashi  
You've been at the toilets for a while...  
Are you okay? 

Kei tapped send and waited. 

And waited. Five minutes, ten minutes; it wasn't long until Kei realised he'd waited nearly another fifteen minutes with no reply. 

Okay. This was getting worrying now.

Thankfully, Tadashi was on speed dial. 

Holding his phone to his ear, Kei listened to the familiar sound of the phone dialling, his eyebrows knotted together with a slight scowl upon his features. What was going on?

The call went to voice mail.

Kei decided to call again - maybe Tadashi had turned his phone on silent?

This time, the phone didn't even dial - cutting straight to voice mail. 

By the time Kei tried calling Tadashi for a third time, he knew that the brunette was not going to pick up. Instead, he decided to leave a message behind.

"Tadashi," he started, as soon as he heard the beep, "you've been gone a long time and you're not answering any messages... If you're able, please call me back straight away." 

He hung up, pocketing his phone and taking a breath he didn't even know he needed. 

Think rationally, if Tadashi isn't answering his phone, where's the most logical place he could be? 

"The toilets," Kei answered his own question, already rising to his feet. The walk to the toilets wasn't that far away, but he still hurried down the dimly lit street, nearly on the verge of running. 

As he came to face the toilets door he stopped. He didn't know what he could be walking into. What if something was going wrong?

Taking a deep breath he pushed on the door, wincing slightly at the ominous creaking sound it made as it swung open. 

"Tadashi?" He called out into the empty looking toilets. "Tadashi, are you in here, I-" 

He stopped instantly when the green back pack caught his eye. 

There, on the floor, lay a discarded backpack, decorated with bright coloured badges pinned to the front pocket, very similar to Kei's own satchel. 

"That's your bag," Kei murmured, as if Tadashi was there beside him, looking upon the deserted scene with him. He felt dazed, detached almost, his brain struggling to put together the pieces. What on earth had happened?

As he went to retrieve the bag, something else caught his eye. Shattered screen, case missing - Tadashi's phone was lying in the sink. 

What the hell?

When he'd first entered, the inside of the toilets had been fairly cool - soothing even, against the remaining heat of the day. But staring down at the cracked iPhone, left smashed in the water inside the basin, Kei's anger was boiling hot, bubbling, rising, twisting in his gut.

He reached out one hand to swipe up the phone, carefully tucking it into his pocket, ensuring his long fingers were not sliced by the cracked glass. 

He then picked up the backpack, assessing it for any noticeable damage before sliding his arms through the straps. Time to find Tadashi. 

Judging by the bag on the floor, Tadashi had panicked and fled - something Suga had once told them to do if they were ever in immediate danger. It was simple and easy to understand. Drop everything and run. 

To that very day day, the overbearing man's words of advice stuck with him. 

Speaking of Sugawara, Kei was fairly certain the man was currently in the United States - he made to sure to make a mental note of this fact in case things took a turn for the worst. 

Before he left the toilets, Kei did a quick scan of the room for any evidence. 

He found nothing - only nauseating urine stains and a rather nasty toilet stall; nothing strange he could analyse or work out in order to help him find Tadashi. Grimacing, he could feel himself shudder at the unsanitary state. 

Formulating a plan in his head, Kei stepped out of the toilets - thankfully not having to touch the germ infected handle as he had left the door open. 

The balmy air washed over his figure, doing nothing to calm his rapidly rising nerves. 

"Focus," he sternly reprimanded himself - Tadashi wasn't stupid. If something had seemed minutely wrong, he'd have acted quickly. 

Kei walked up the street, each stride longer and faster than the last. With cautious eyes, he surveyed the area, ensuring to check even the most conspicuous of alleyways, hoping to find any trace that Tadashi may have left behind. 

"Kei...!"

Kei snapped his head towards the sound. That just now... 

He could've sworn he'd heard Tadashi. Kei's heartbeat seemed to only increase in anticipating, throbbing in throat as he whirled around in a circle. What was going on? Where was Tadashi?

"Kei, where are you?" 

Relief flooding through his veins - Kei wasn't just imagining it. He picked up his pace, moving his legs as he fast as he possibly could - he was okay. Tadashi was okay. 

As he came up to the bench he caught sight of a familiar figure. Even with his back facing him, there was no denying the slender frame and messy hair of Tadashi's. 

"Tadashi!" Kei gasped out, watching as the other man whirled around and fixated his brown eyes on Kei. 

He lifted his hand, probably in a gesture to wave him over or something. But he couldn't tell, all he could process was that Tadashi was here. Tadashi was safe. 

The shorter man rushed towards him, flinging his arms out at Kei. 

Stumbling slightly under the force of the sudden embrace, Kei wrapped his arms around Tadashi's shoulders, keeping them both upright. 

"Thank goodness you're alright," he murmured, burying his face in Tadashi's hair and inhaling the comforting scent - it was simply imcomparable to anything else, it was so Tadashi, that Kei knew he was surely losing himself to it; just the naturalness of Tadashi's being.

Too soon for Kei's liking, Tadashi pulled away from the embrace, placing his hands in Kei's shoulders and looking him dead on in the eyes.  
It was in that moment that Kei's insides turned cold, twisting up into his throat at the serious expression on the brunettes face. 

"Kei, we have to get out of here," he grabbed Kei's hand and tugged him forwards without any warning. 

"What-" he started to question but Tadashi cut him off, increasing the speed of their running. 

"We've got to get off the streets, before they find us."

"And who are they?" Kei urged, for the love of god he hoped they weren't who he thought they were. Surely Tadashi meant something different to the they he was thinking of? 

"No time to explain," Tadashi said quickly, "hurry!"

He pulled Kei up some concrete stairs, their pace showing no signs of slowing - in fact, Kei was certain their steps were only speeding up, their legs taking two steps at a time. 

Throwing Tadashi a desperate glance, he caught the boys eye, opening his mouth to say something, but the brunette got their first.  

"I need you to activate your shield," Tadashi's voice was urgent, "protect us both-"

The words hadn't even processed in Kei's head before Tadashi was ripped from his grasp.  
Brown eyes wide in shock, Tadashi's mouth moved slowly: "run," he seemed to croak, before his body slammed back against the steps and without stopping, began to tumble.

"Tadashi!" Kei could hear himself scream, but it sounded distant as he watched Tadashi fall, unable to do anything. 

Kei's body moved on its own accord, flinging himself down the steps after Tadashi, heart in his throat, just as loud as the unsteady stumbling of his trainers. He had no clue what was happening; his mind was a complete mess, but he had no choice but to continue after the falling boy.

"Tadashi!" Kei cried out again, the boy lay at the foot of the steps, his limbs splayed at awkward angles, most likely broken. And the worst of the image, the pool of blood surrounding his head like a halo, already soaking into his hair. 

Kei, resisting the urge to throw up, slowed to a stop upon the steps, staring down at the scene that lay before him. Frozen, all he could do was watch.

Two men stood over Tadashi's lifeless form - where they'd appeared from Kei had no clue.  
One crouched near Tadashi's head, assessing the damage and checking his pulse. The other, stared at Kei, his expression twisted into a manic grin. 

Kei would know that sadistic smile anywhere.

He blanched, already twisting back on himself, Tadashi's words echoing in his head. 

Run. 

Kei squeezed his eyes shut. He could fight these two men off, surely?

Run.

No. He couldn't do it. His ability was a shield, and defence would get him nowhere. If he stayed...

Run.

If he stayed, Tadashi would never forgive him.

Run.

Faced with no choice, Kei turned around, his heart heavy and mind cloudy as he obeyed Tadashi's final orders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An insight on what happened that night from Tsukishima's perspective, my poor child. 
> 
> Here's my [Tumblr](http://itsmyfridge.tumblr.com/) if anyone wants to come hit me up.


End file.
